Helicopter roundabout



Oct. 12,1948. w. 1.. WEST 2,451,006

- 1 HELICOPTER nouumsouw Filed July 16, 1946 U I 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-l WILLIAM L.WEST

Gum/W Oct. 12, 1948. L w. L. WEST 2,451,006

- HELICOPTER ROUNDABOUT Filed July 16, 1946 4 Sheets-She et 2 WILLIAM L. wEs'r 02 12, 1948. w. L. WEST 2,451,006

HELICOPTER ROUNDABOUT Filed July 16, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 so x 6| is is 20 I 6 I QWOMM WILLIAM L. WEST Oct. 12, 1948. w, w s 2,451,006

HELICOPTER ROUNDABCUT .'Filed July l6, 1946 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG'5 WILLIAM L. WEST Patented Got. 12, 1948 iTE 2 Claims.

This invention applies to a roundabout and morerespecially to a roundabout embodying a toy helicopter.

It is an object of this invention to provide a roundabouthaving a toy helicoptermounted on one end of alsuitable support and having a driving motor mounted onlthe other end with means for pivoting thevsupport at a point to substantially balance the. motor against the toy helicopter and'remote controlled means for moving the sup ort to regulate theangle of attack of the helicopter to raise or lower-the nose of the helicopter,,thereby making it flyeither forward or backward.

It is anotherobject of thisinvention to provide a roundabout comprising a stand having a vertically movable rod pivotally supporting a pipe having atorsion driving wire therein with a motor disposed on one end of the pipe and connected to the-torsion lwirelfor rotating the same and having a toyhelicopter on the other end of said pipe with a vertically disposed shaft provided with V rotor blades and with a driving connection between the torsion wire and the vertically disposed shaft of the rotor blades for imparting rotation to the rotor blades together with meansfor supplying electric current to the'motor'mounted on one end of thevpipe and also having remotely con trolled means for changing the angle of attack of the airplanathat is, raising or lowering the nose of the airplane to cause it to fly either forward or backward.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will'appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is afront elevation of the apparatus;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 in Figure 4; I

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view through the stand portion of the apparatus with the central portion thereof being broken away and taken along the line 4- 3 in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 in Figure 2;

Figure'6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 in'Figure 4.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral H3 indicates an elongated base piece having a bracket I I mounted on the outer end thereof in which is pivotally mounted, as at 12, a lever l3 and to the lower end of lever I3 is pivoted one end of a rod l4 whose other end is pivoted, as at IE, to a bell crank I6 pivoted on a transverse 1 the pipe 2% for the wires 32 and 33.

rod l'l, whose ends are mounted in bearingsiS and I9 in a circular base portion 20, which'is joined to the first-named base portion l9.

Base portion 26 has uprising therefrom a frusto-conical portion 2! The base 201s adapted to receive a second frusto-conical member 22 which extends upwardly and forms a miniature tower. The upper portion of the frusto-conical member 22 has a plate 25 fitting therein and provided with'a central aperture in which a pipe 26 is mounted. This circular plate 25 is fixed to the pipe 26 and fits up-into the upper end of the frusto-conical member 22 to prevent lateral movement of the pipe. The lower end of the pipe has a'collar Z'i resting on the flat upper portion of member 21 and in this manner the pipe 26 is supported. The pipe 26 has suitable insulation bands 28 and 29 secured therearound and secured to these insulation bands 28 and 29 are bands 3.0 and of suitable conductive material. To these bands 3'9 ands! are-connected wires 32 and 33 which pass through an aperture 3 2 in the pipe 26 and downwardly inside the pipe and passing out of an aperture, as at 35, and are connected to plug 36 which is adapted to be plugged into a suitable electrical outlet. In one of these wires ismounted a suitable rheostat 49 for controlling the speed of the driving motor which will be presently described.

Mounted for vertical movement in pipe 26 is. a shaft 42 having an enlarged portion 33 adapted to rest on one end of bell crank i 8. This shaft 52 is very much smaller in diameterthan the inside diameter of pipe 26 so as to provide room within The upper end of shaft 42 has loosely fitting therearound a bushing s5 which slidably and rotatably fits in the upper end of pipe 26. The upper end of bushing i5 is enlarged as at 41 and has an L-shaped nonconductive member 48 extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom and in spaced relation to the exterior surfaces of the conductive bands 39 and 3 l. Mounted on member 38 is a pair of screws 56 and 5!, which secure to said member 48, brushes 52 and 53 which are adapted to press against the conducting rings 38 and 3! and their lower ends are bent beneath the conductingbands 3H and SI to prevent bushing from rising when shaft 62 is raised. The wires 5 and lead through an opening 5% in a dome shaped member Bl. The wires 54 and 55 lead to a small electric motor 13.

The upper end of portion 4! is forked and has a long pivot pin 66 extending therethrough and whose end-s abut against the interior walls of a cone shaped member Bi and suitable screws are embedded in the ends of this pivot shaft 83 and penetrate suitable holes in the conical member iii to support said conical member 5| having slots Gla through which passes a pipe 1G to be presently described. The member 41 also has a rigid arm 62 extending laterally therefrom to which is pivoted a link 63, whose upper end is pivoted to the outer end of an arm 6 which is integral with a member 65 whose lower end is penetrated by the pivot pin 68. The upper end of member 65 is also forked and has a pivot pin 6'! therein, in which is pivoted a member 68 having a set screw 9 therein, and member 88 has a bore therein which slidably receives a small elongated pipe 10 and which is confined in position both angulary and laterally by the set screw 63. On one end of this pipe TB is an enlargement H havings arms '12 extending therefrom which are secured to a small electric motor l3. Connected to the motor 13 is a torsion wire it, which slidably penetrates the pipe T5. The end of the pipe 76 remote from the motor 73 penetrates the cabin portion of the fuselage of a toy helicopter indicated at 15. This toy helicopter has a wall 'iii provided with a thickened portion T! which is also penetrated by the pipe 10 and a set screw 18 confines the helicopter on the end of the pipe 18. The end of the torsion wire 14 projects beyond the end of the pipe 18 and has fixed thereon a beveled gear 86 which meshes with a beveled gear Bi on the lower end of a propeller shaft 82, which propeller shaft has a collar 83 adjustably secured thereon, which rest on a bracket 85 disposed on the interior of the cabin T5. The propeller shaft 82 extends upwardly inside an uprising portion 86 of the cabin and has a hub or spinner 81 secured on its upper end. To the hub or spinner 81 are secured three rotor blades 88, 89 and 98, which are in the form of an air foil so that when rotated will create a lift to lift the helicopter from a position of rest upwardly and these blades are of such pitch that they will also propel the helicopter forwardly or backward so that it will travel in a circle around its pivot point in member 68.

The normal setting of the pipe '58 with relation to its bracket 68 is such that the helicopter ":5 has its nose in lowered position so that it will go forward. The angle of attack of the helicopter, that is, the nose of the helicopter can be raised by lever I3. When lever I3 is moved to the left in Fig. 1 and shaft 42 is moved upwardly, this causes stationary arm 62 with its pivoted line 63 to pivot member 65 on its pivot Gil which swings member 88 forwardly as viewed in Figure 4, which lowers the nose of the helicopter and causes it to go forward. Then lowering of the shaft 42 will raisethe nose of the fuselage thus causing it to fiy backward.

In the drawings and specifications, there has been set forth in a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a roundabout, a vertically disposed pipe,

a vertically movable rod mounted in said pipe, 2. member pivotally mounted on the upper end of said rod, and having a lever extending therefrom, a bushing mounted in the upper end of said pipe and having a projection extending from one side thereof, a link pivotally secured to the projection and to the lever, a second member pivotally mounted in the upper end of the first member on an axis at right angles to the pivot of the first member to the upper end of the rod, an elongated pipe adjustably secured to the second member and having an electric motor on one end and having a toy helicopter on the other end, a driving shaft in said elongated pipe and extending from the motor to the helicopter and a driving connection between the driving shaft and the blades of the helicopter for imparting rotation thereto, the upper end of the vertically dis-posed pipe having a pair of insulated annular members mounted thereon and the bushing having a pair of brushes mounted thereon for engaging said insulated annular members, means for supplying electrical current to said annular members and wires leading from said brushes in contact with said annular members to the motor, remotely mounted means for supporting the lower end of said rod for raising and lowering said rod at will, raising of said rod tending to pivot the first member pivotally mounted on the upper end of said rod to tilt the second member backwardly or forwardly to thereby regulate the direction of travel. I

In a roundabout, a vertically disposed hollow support, a vertically slidable shaft disposed H in said support, an elongated pipe mounted intermediate its ends on the upper end of said vertically slidable shaft, a driving motor on one end of the elongated pipe, and a helicopter having a rotor on the other end of the pipe, a driving shaft connected to the motor and to said rotor for imparting rotation thereto, said vertical support having annular conducting rings disposed therearound, a bushing in the upper end of the vertical support having a pair of brushes contacting said rings, means for supplying electric current to the rings, the upper end of said slidable shaft having a bracket pivotally secured thereon, the upper end of said bracket having a second bracket pivotally secured thereon on a pivot at right angles to the first pivot, a lever on the first bracket, a link pivotally connected to the lever and to said bushing, means in the second bracket for mounting the elongated pipe intermediate its ends so that raising of the shaft will tilt the second bracket to vary the angle of attack of the helicopter, thereby controlling direction of flight.

WILLIAM L. WEST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,131,222 Dale Sept. 27, 1938 2,159,963 Bonanno May 30, 1938 

